18 migrants rescued, 8 missing off Libyan coast

TRIPOLI, March 19 (Xinhua) -- A total of 18 migrants were rescued and eight others missing on Tuesday off the coast of Libya's western City of Sabratha, some 70 km west of the capital Tripoli.

"A wooden boat carrying 27 migrants capsized off the coastal City of Sabratha. Seven women and 11 men were rescued, and the remaining eight are still missing," Basem al-Ghrabli, Sabratha's anti-illegal immigration department official, told Xinhua.

A body of a little girl was recovered on the City's shore, al-Ghrabli said.

Thousands of illegal immigrants choose to cross the Mediterranean toward European shores from Libya because of the chaos in the country after the 2011 uprising.

Migrant shelters in Libya are crowded with thousands of migrants rescued at sea or arrested by the Libyan security services. Enditem